Day 264 - Thursday, September 11th

[papalobo]

[Max sleeps; has as he'd thought, he achieves nothing, and he's not even a small-talk source of comfort or somebody to soothe Ash's nerves before his two AM meeting with yet another Chinese teenager. Something about Chinese teenagers seems to always spell trouble for Ash, and now he's in a mess involving no less than four of them.

But Max doesn't move. If Ash comes to see him, setting that pill counter and the note about the smoothie, he may notice he hasn't so much as shifted a finger. Ash has had to turn to painting, but there's no need to lock that room before, or even for a long while after. The only one in this house besides him is a breathing corpse.

But Shawn's ready and waiting for him at one, prepared to be decked out a wires that Ling's likely to hang him with if he finds out about them.]

Comments

[papalobo]

[Leading him in to the room, he tries not to look too hard at the corpse that hasn't even begun to smell yet it's so fresh, even if the blood is dried. He heads to open what looks like a first aid box, but has several vials with nothing but numbers on them.]

Here. These are from the Lee clan. That means they're good.

[jadedlynx]

Take one. Then we'll go for a little walk while I search your phone. If the drug doesn't kill you, I'll withdraw the money, give you back the phone, and let you run away.

[papalobo]

[He reluctantly takes out a needle and sighs, turning his forearm up and looking again to the corpse. He knows Ash knows he's stalling. And yet still nobody is coming.

So, he injects himself.]

[jadedlynx]

Good job.

Now come on. Out the window.

[ He holds out his hands for the drugs. ]

[papalobo]

[He passes him the box, standing up, ready to go.]

[jadedlynx]

[ He flickers his wrist toward the window. ]

Hurry.

[papalobo]

[Why isn't anyone coming for him? But out the window he goes.]

[jadedlynx]

[ They're good at abandoning each other, but it's also possible that they'll wait for him outside.

Should they not be, Ash removes his hoddie and tosses it toward the man. ]

Put it on.

How long before it kicks in?

[papalobo]

It's fast. Any minute now. Why am I changing clothes?

[jadedlynx]

You're not. You're adding clothes. It's so we don't have to hide our feelings for each other while we're out in public.

[ It'll allow Ash to hide the knife. ]

[papalobo]

So that's what those rumors meant... If you're gonna rape me, just kill me after all.

[jadedlynx]

Who adds clothes before they rape somebody? Don't be stupid. Put it on.

[papalobo]

[He is obliging.]

You're gonna fuck me and get feelings for me and that's why you're gonna let me go. That's worse than just being a killer.

[jadedlynx]

What kind of story are you writing in your head? I'm not going to fuck you.

[ Pulling out his knife, he changes hands and moves closer to the guy. Ash slips his hand around his waist, beneath the hoodie, to press the knife to his side. ]

It's insurance to make sure you don't run. I can't keep the gun out in public. It'll hit something vital so don't be stupid.

[papalobo]

[It's unclear why the man seems to hate it so much. Most people would love to have Ash's arm around them.]

[jadedlynx]

[ If Ash had to guess, it was the knife, the unwanted touch, and a weird worry about being raped. ]

So you guys are working with the Lees?

[ Ash urges him to walk. ]

[papalobo]

The Mainland ones. Not the one here.

It's kicked in already...

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash knows enough to be cautious, but at least it hasn't killed him. ]

Is your group responsible for Sing's disappearance?

[papalobo]

I don't know. I really don't. It's so convenient for us it probably is. But nobody talked about it.

[jadedlynx]

Why were you willing to lose Ling for Shawn?

[papalobo]

I don't know. My guess is we had your guy, we didn't have Gou Sheng, and the higher up guys worked with what we had.

[jadedlynx]

Why would it matter if you had my guy? What was the plan with Shawn?

An hour of questioning later...

[sentimentalstoic]

[It's three calls before Blanca picks up.]

How rare for you to be this eager for me. If you miss me this much, I might not be able to resist coming to you, even when you're in the middle of something very involved.

he was well paid for it

[jadedlynx]

[ He's almost back at the warehouse by the third call. ]

One day, it might be a social call, but it's business.

Did you know he recorded having sex with you?

[sentimentalstoic]

[Ash can hear the exhale through closed lips.]

Does it matter?

[He knows it does to Ash. But he'll try talking him out of his natural guilt and the anger he suspects Ash has on his behalf, just the same.]